OVERVIEW:

This character is mainly a Rogue, with some Assassin and Harper Scout thrown in at strategic points. I designed it for PvM (I don't do PvP, so I have no idea how he'd fare there). Because of the need for alignment management, this character demands some roleplaying (unless you cheat, of course.)

CREDITS:

I have not seen any other Rogue/Assassin/Harper builds by anyone else – I’m probably the only one nuts enough to do it. I got the idea to use Great Dexterity as a Harper Bonus Feat from one of cdaulepp’s builds: Elusive Scout, a sorcerer/monk/harper who used Great Charisma instead of Great Dex. I looked at a bunch of unnamed Rogue and Assassin builds by a bunch of people, mostly in the general forum. One notable thread was “Rogue build help please” started by db_ggmm on Nov. 4, 2004. From the Epic Builders forum, I looked at “The Tormented Assassin” by “syrath1001”.

Race: Human
Initial Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Final Alignment: Chaotic Good

Stats:
STR 14 (more damage and carrying capacity)
DEX 17 (main ability, finishes at 32)
CON 12 (helps make up for d6 hit dice)
WIS 8 (not the wisest fellow you'll ever meet)
INT 14 (more skills, feat access, helps Death Attack)
CHA 9 (make up for this via skills)

SA = sneak attack
DA = death attack
RBF = Rogue bonus feat
HBF = Harper bonus feat
NEF = non-epic feat
EF = epic feat
RA = Rogue ability
AA = Assassin ability
HA = Harper ability



The character finishes with Epic Dodge and all five Self Concealments, making for a very hard character to hit. Five levels of Assassin is not enough for a high Death Strike DC, but the other Assassin abilities are nice. And with auto-fail on 1, successful Death Strikes will be a nice bonus when they occur.

A build with Shadowdancer instead of Harper might be more effective, but I wanted to do something different. Harper gives this build some nice abilities and higher dexterity (by sacrificing the Harper favored enemy feats for Great Dex), and offers some neat roleplaying opportunities.

I went with a single-hand weapon and shield proficiency because I've already played a dual-wielder and I wanted to try something different. But with high DEX, he would be a very good dual wielder, and the build isn't hard to modify to achieve that.

Including Knockdown and Improved Knockdown helps get Sneak/Death Attacks without henchmen/party help. Death Attack and Sneak Attack damage stack, so the final total ends at 18d6. Oh, and just for grins, here's some backstory on how I'm playing this character (whom I've named Brand Swift):

Brand Swift looked with a bemused smile at the young man who sat across the tavern table from him. The fellow had cautiously identified himself to Brand as a Harper, an organization to which Brand himself belonged. Although the boy had introduced himself by name, Brand thought of him as “Wormfood”. He’s probably seen eighteen winters, but I don’t give him one chance in fifty of seeing nineteen. Still, I’ll do what I can.
“Why d’ya want to hear ‘bout me?”, Brand asked.
“You’re a hero.”, the young man replied.
“Bah, you want to talk to a hero - go find Hoftasee or Vannevar. I’m just a grayheaded old drunk who’s made too many mistakes. If the Harpers hadn’t taken me in, I’d prob’ly been dead decades ago. But here’s a deal - I’ll talk as long as you keep my glass full. Mayhap I’ll stumble across something that’ll be worth hearin’.” Brand drained his glass then began:
“Earliest place I remember is a back alley behind a tavern in Luskan. Nobody never took any care of me, so I learnt to do it myself. When I got as old as you are today, I’d been killin’ for coin for three years. An’ I could hold my liquor better’n any man twice my age. Only reason I wadn’t dead in a gutter is ‘cause I could smell a trap.”
“Is that so?” The young man turned toward the bar. “Waitress, another pint for my friend. No, make that two. He looks thirsty. And another any time his glass gets empty.”
“That’s it boy, keep ‘em comin’! Anyway, one of the High Captains I was workin’ as a thug for – he saw I was livin’ and not dyin’ so he had me trained real good as an assassin. I did that for a while, but let me tell you boy – that way of life will get you in a pine box young, no matter how good you think you are.”
“I hear you, sir.”
Do you? Do you really, Wormfood? I don’t think you do. I don’t think so at all. Pity.
“Well, I drifted out of Luskan before I caught the sharp end of somebody’s dagger. I didn’t know it then, but I guess I was already seein’ the error of my ways, as they say. I heard the Lord’s Alliance was hirin’ mercenaries and payin’ good and I signed up.
“That’s when I met General Bolstad. I guess I got the luck of fallin’ in above my head, ‘cause for some reason he put me in his personal guard. General Bolstad, he was the first truly good man I ever met. Tough as nails, but fair even to no-accounts like me. One night when we was camped between battles, I was on my way back from drinkin’ with some o’ the others and I seen the General walkin’ toward his tent. Then I seen a shadow dart outta nowhere toward him. ‘Cept this shadow had a sword drawn. Another man, I mighta let die. But like I say, I never knowed anyone like General Bolstad before. So I jumped in between ‘em and the blade caught me insteada him. The General, he figured out quick what was up and he lopped that fella’s head clean off – see, bein’ an assassin don’t pay – but my left wing was sliced up bad. General Bolstad had his own chief surgeon take care o’ me, or else I woulda lost the arm altogether. Even so, it still ain’t good for much ‘cept keepin’ my sleeve from flappin’ in the wind.”
“Left arm, you say? That’s a shame, friend.” The young man surveyed the eight empty pint mugs on the table in front of Brand. His own glass was still three-quarters full, and the bar was now empty but for a few stragglers. It was almost time. “Continue, please.”
Wormfood, you haven’t heard a word. Let’s get this over with.
“Gettin’ to the point, one of them Harpers heard what I did an’ hooked me up with his group. Guess I was what they call reformed or somethin’. He told me they was a secret bunch that kept back evil, no matter what it took. That sounded okay to me. Well, I done a lot of things since then, but I was finally on the right side of the fence, if you will.
“Anyway, I’m retired now. Don’t even carry a sword no more. Well, that’s the story. Sorry it weren’t any better. Guess I ran out o’ words before you ran out o’ coppers. Good night, and good luck.”
Brand stood, turned his back to the table, and began to stagger away. Then with startling speed, he spun and dropped into a crouch. Wormfood’s poisoned dagger cut through the air just over his head. Brand fluidly pulled a knife from his boot and thrust it deep into the assassin’s chest. Wormfood fell to the floor, his face a mix of pain and surprise. The entire fight had taken less than a second.
“How…” he began, but the question was cut short as he began choking on his own blood.
“I told you boy!”, Brand hissed. “I told you I could hold my liquor! I told you I could smell a trap! I told you assassins die young! How much plainer did you want it? I’ve been a Harper half my life. You’re no Harper! You thought you had me snookered, me tellin’ you all that sob story? Boy, I was tryin’ to help you!”
Wormfood’s eyes twinkled briefly with understanding and regret, then faded.
“Too little, too late”, Brand muttered. He spied Wormfood’s mug still sitting on the table. “No sense in wastin’ good ale.” He downed the mug’s contents in a single pull, then began staggering toward the door. He stopped for a moment and looked back at the body lying on the floor.
“I hate killin’ kids” Brand said softly, and stumbled out into the night. I think you must take defensive roll at 18, since you're missing an RBF there and I don't see it anywhere else...

Cool build. How does the AC turn out?
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Quote: Posted 12/04/04 06:52:31 (GMT) -- Nimueh_Leafbow

I think you must take defensive roll at 18, since you're missing an RBF there and I don't see it anywhere else...

Cool build. How does the AC turn out?

Thanks!

Here are some stats off the character sheet for level 40 with no equipment:
AC: 27
Attack Bonus: +35/+30/+25
Fortitude: 17
Reflex: 34
Will: 17
Base Attack: 24

He can carry 116 lbs. before becoming encumbered.

Using Cat's Grace, Eagle's Splendor, Tymora's Smile and Ghostly Visage help out the stats a bit more without adding any equipment.

Using a trainer module to toss in some magical items bumped things to:
AC: 59
Attack Bonus: +51/+46/+41
Fortitude: 34
Reflex: 57
Will: 35
Base Attack: 24
Spell Resistance 14

Of course, once you start adding items there are so many different tradeoffs that it really depends on what you want to maximize.

You're right about Defensive Roll. That's on my spreadsheet but I forgot to type it into the posting.
Quote: Posted 12/04/04 05:30:38 (GMT) -- bpirkle
I went with a single-hand weapon and shield proficiency because I've already played a dual-wielder and I wanted to try something different. But with high DEX, he would be a very good dual wielder, and the build isn't hard to modify to achieve that.

Several people said they thought single-hand weapon plus shield gave up too much, so here’s a version that sacrifices Toughness and a little STR, but gets dual-wielding. Final DEX remains unchanged (the two builds are identical after level 21).

Stats:
STR 12 (more damage and carrying capacity)
DEX 18 (main ability, finishes at 32)
CON 12 (helps make up for d6 hit dice)
WIS 8 (not the wisest fellow you'll ever meet)
INT 14 (more skills, feat access, helps Death Attack)
CHA 8 (make up for this via skills)

MY question is where do all those skills points go into
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